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By Harlee Hunsaker
A lot of people have watched “Squid Game”, listened to boy band BTS, and even used Korean skin care. If you haven’t, you probably know someone who has.
In recent years, the popularity of Korean culture has increased across the world. From K-pop to K-dramas and everything in between, people seem to love it.
But you don’t have to be physically in Korea to access their culture. In fact, you can access it on the BYU campus.
BYU students gathered for a Halloween-themed K-pop dance party hosted by the Korean Students Association Club on campus.
“In Utah, we’re a minority, and it’s not really common to bring together minorities,†said club president Vivian Lee. “Doing that at this school, I think it’s really great.”
Lee organized the K-pop dance party to share her culture with others, but sharing Korean culture is getting easier and easier due to the “Korean wave”.
“It’s a machine. It’s a huge machine, â€said Richard McBride, BYU President of Asian and Near Eastern Languages. He taught a variety of classes including Korean culture and said that there are three Korean waves.
“Korean food, Korean music, Korean films and Korean dramas. The first step was kind of that stuff, â€McBride said.
He explained that in the late 1990s, Korean banks went bankrupt due to bad debts and had to rename themselves.
First, the rise of Samsung. Since then, the rise of Korean cinema, television, video games and especially music has gained in popularity.
Earlier this year, the Asia Scotland Institute reported that BTS had brought in $ 4.9 billion to the South Korean economy.
Korea has exposed the world to its culture. For example, Netflix said that 142 million households have watched the Korean series “Squid Game”.
But McBride asks an interesting question: “We live in a globalized world when but when you globalize too much, what do you sacrifice in the process? “
McBride wonders if this mass globalization will lead to a loss of individual culture across the world. However, Lee is not worried.
“It makes me very proud of our country,†she said.
K-pop dance students attending the party also appreciate the globalization of Korean culture. So for now, sit back and watch the Korean wave crash into your own life.
